By: Helena Asabere
Where did the Ananse tale which were traditionally passed from generation to generation by word of mouth go? Ah! I long for those cozy evenings by the fireside, those were the days when little children crawl to their mother’s bossom in anticipation for Grandma’s story.
Even the naughty dog that lives close by lies down quietly to listen to Grandma’s great words. “Hmmm Ananse the cunning man; Ananse the Greedy man; Ananse the wise king; Ananse the unfaithful partner”. In unison, we chide. What happened to our Ananse stories?
Everyone is preoccupied with one activity or the other neglecting our rich storytelling tradition. Where are those stories that taught the value of Wisdom over strength, the consequence of greed, the importance of patience, the dangers of deception, the reward of hard work, the power of unity, Humility, Respect for others? Where are they? We have lost it! We have lost our rich Ananse stories and we cannot just loose it, we need to bring it back! We need to bring it back, folks!.
The saying, ‘Sankofa Yenkyi’ should be hammered to bring back our Ananse stories or else we shall dread what becomes of our youngsters. What we used to call humility has now become a thing of the past. Imagine a young person who boards the same vehicle with an old man and comfortably sits whiles the old stands, per chance if a Good Samaritan who looks on to what is happening decides to give out their seat, this youngster steups and says that, ‘who cares, we all paid the same fare though’. Oh! this is so disheartening.
Is it modern education that has made these youngsters forget their values? I am scared!, very scared of what future holds for these youngsters! We must come together as a nation to bring our Ananse stories back. We must not loose it! There is a call on us all to do our bit as individuals to bring our stories back. I have a role to play and you too have a role to play as well. Together, we can bring Ananse stories back.
